Fuze+ Review: The worst user interface ever

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by The DarkSide

Let's just hope he fuze+++champipple edition is better implemented. I mean, the sq was great, and the overall design quite good, but that damn touchpad & sluggishness killed it!!!

How true, a simple D-pad would have done the trick for me I'm surprised they just didn't make a larger version of the Clip that would be more of a PMP ...

[CrowdAds]

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by WalkGood

How true, a simple D-pad would have done the trick for me I'm surprised they just didn't make a larger version of the Clip that would be more of a PMP ...

I always said I'd rather the Fuze replacement had Clip+ controls instead of that ipod-wannabe wheel.....lol. Maybe this fall they will finally do so....

[The DarkSide]

Both of you guys are on point. Me, just make a fuze+ with clip+/zip type controls and I'm SOLD!!!

[WalkGood]

If they came out with a dramatic improvement they’d have easy sales with all the happy Clip owners. Heck I wouldn’t mind if they made it into a premium product and charged a little more as long as the feature and build quality was up to snuff.

[The DarkSide]

I have a house full of Sansa players then,...

[Davis137]

I recently purchased a Black 8gb version, and I bought mine refurbished from Tigerdirect.ca, for a great price. I can say that I was initially panicked, as it wouldn't start up or respond at all, but that's because the battery was pretty much dead in it. After plugging it in with the mini usb for 5 minutes, it powered up and started to work with my computer just fine.

The controls are actually NOT THAT BAD. That's right, I don't find them that bad, even without doing a firmware update. What I don't like so far, is the number of layers the music player interface has. It seems like there are a lot of uneeded steps to get to individual songs (I don't want my material sorted by artist, album or playlist...I just want to scroll to a specific song and play it). The response time on mine isn't nearly as slow as others have experienced, and even the startup and power down is pretty quick. Startup is about 2-3 times longer than the older Fuze, but once it's up, it's alright.

The sound quality, and the volume playback is really impressive, and paired to my JVC HA-FX1X in ear's, the bass extension is really good, and quite loud too.

I'll report more when I've had more time to get used to the GUI and other aspects of this new rig.

L8tz

[El C]

Originally Posted by Davis137

The controls are actually NOT THAT BAD. That's right, I don't find them that bad, even without doing a firmware update

Wow, you're the first person I've seen here who doesn't mind the controls...

[mamamia88]

With rockbox it's very very usable. The OF is unusable to me. Has anyone tried maybe putting a layer of super glue over the dpad to give something like braile?

[Tapeworm]

Originally Posted by Davis137

The response time on mine isn't nearly as slow as others have experienced, and even the startup and power down is pretty quick. Startup is about 2-3 times longer than the older Fuze, but once it's up, it's alright.

Wait until you get it filled up and maybe add a large capacity memory card as well and see if you can still say this.

[Davis137]

I don't plan to use a large capacity memory card, unless it's absolutely needed. I also don't plan to use the entire internal memory either, as I am aware this will slow the device down. When I do use the unit, I find that having 4-5 gigabytes of music files is sufficient, and honestly think I won't hear the same songs too often to get annoyed, and the drag and drop ability makes file transffers quick enough for my tastes.

The main reason I got this unit, is because I accidentally laundered my Fuze, and even with taking it apart, drying and cleaning it, it wouldn't work still ( I actually tried some of the things listed on this forum, and it still didn't help). I have had 2 Sandisk players back to back, and my wife also has a blue 4gb Fuze that we used to replace her old iPod she used to have and mis-placed (and she loves the thing a lot more than her iPod and that PITA known as iTunes). The Clip+ didn't quite have enough superior features than the Fuze to want one, and the people selling Fuze's online want top dollar for them, regardless if new or used. I figured the price I paid for the refurb Fuze+ was actually more realistic than a new Fuze, and it was the cheapest replacement, other than the legions of crappy asian mp3 players that the local electronics stores seem content to sell to the masses.

I still need to download the manual, and possibly the firmware updates, and look at circumventing the WMP style file management (my Fuze acted like it used VLC, and I preffer that hands-down to WMP).

Any suggestions/advice on new Fuze+ ownership is always welcome...and I don't mind being one of few people on here that's had a favourable ownership of one of these, so far...

[Davis137]

Alright, update #2...Finally got the Sandisk website to upload the Sansa Update Utility, installed the firmware update, the userguide, etc etc. I also started going deeper into the sub-menus of the settings screen, and have since disabled some features that I won't be using, and changed the main menu to have the option to rotate through the inputs in either direction, so now it doesn't have to be swiped from one end to the other like it came originally. I also removed a lot of the pre-installed media, moved all of the music I've copied onto it into just the music folder, without any sub-folders for genre or artist, and changed the background to just be a photo of my choosing...all of which have sped up the machine's overall performance. After letting the machine do a couple of refreshes, it's sped up even more. The only thing I can't figure out, is how to lock the faceplate touchpad with the power button (which I read was supposed to happen with the firmware update).

The more I learn how to use this thing, the easier and faster it's getting to navigate. I think a lot of folks that test-ran these units at stores, didn't really give themselves enough time to learn how to use them, and got quickly frustrated. Yes, this unit is a LOT more complicated to use than older Sandisk products, but I think that that's because there are just so many options for everything, that it's overwhelming at first.

I'll do another update soon if I find other ways to make the unit run well, and to report on battery life, and overall performance of the unit. Oh yeah, before I forget, I also connected it to the aux input of one of my stereo's, as well as my Harman Kardon Champange 2.1 computer speaker kit, and this Fuze+ sounds fantastic on either, especially using the custom EQ option. This thing also seems to have a higher output volume than that of my former Fuze...wonder if it's higher output voltage from the headphone jack, or just a newer, more efficient amp or pre-amp.

L8tz

[Tapeworm]

Originally Posted by Davis137

Finally got the Sandisk website to upload the Sansa Update Utility, installed the firmware update, the userguide, etc etc.

Now do yourself a favor and un-install the Updater.

1. There won't be any more firmware updates.
2. Every time you plug your player into your computer, it will "phone home" looking for updates that will never come, essentially becoming "nag-ware".
3. The updater is a total resource hog, slowing down start-up for no good reason.
4. Anything the Updater can do, you can do manually . . . and usually faster.

[skip252]

Originally Posted by Davis137

The more I learn how to use this thing, the easier and faster it's getting to navigate. I think a lot of folks that test-ran these units at stores, didn't really give themselves enough time to learn how to use them, and got quickly frustrated. Yes, this unit is a LOT more complicated to use than older Sandisk products, but I think that that's because there are just so many options for everything, that it's overwhelming at first.

You're saying what people have posted from day one. It does work fairly well, lightly loaded and without a loaded card.

I'm not a rookie that makes snap judgements standing in a store. I stand by what I've said before. I also seriously doubt the other experienced members who have owned them for months are giving an overnight impression. When they say the UI has serious problems they are speaking from extended experience.

I have a number of touchscreen and touchpad device I own or can access. There's a Fuze+ among them. It lags behind them all in performance once it's loaded and you add a card. It doesn't perform all that well unloaded, but once you fill it up UI performance drops significantly.

Load it fully and add a loaded card. If the UI is decent, performance should remain the same as it does now.

[Marvin the Martian]

I don't have any issues with lag on mine....but I only have half of the internal memory full. It's just the infuriating controls....they drive me nuts. And I have and have had multiple touchscreen devices, so it's not like I am unfamiliar with a touch interface.

[skip252]

I'm including the controls when I say "UI performance", Marv. I don't get a lag in loading or playback. It's getting to the point where what I want to load or play can be selected that's the issue for me. Once I reach that point the actual playback is fine.

[Davis137]

Hey now, I wasn't suggesting that the persons on this specific website aren't familiar with these units. Just saying that it gets a lot of bad first impression reviews online, whether it's on Youtube, or a blog. I can totally understand what's being said about the Lag time if you have the device full, or put a large capacity card in it.

I think I'll give the media converter a try, and then remove the Sandisk update utility from my computer, as was suggested above.

[Tapeworm]

Originally Posted by Davis137

I think I'll give the media converter a try, and then remove the Sandisk update utility from my computer, as was suggested above.

If you're talking about the Sansa Media Converter, here's another piece of advice:

DON'T!

1. It's a terrible piece of software that 9 out of 10 people have problems with. In most cases, one has to first use another conversion program to "start" or prepare the file so SMC can take it the rest of the way, and
2. The Fuze+ doesn't need it. Many video codecs play without conversion natively, and those that do need conversion can be done with almost any other free video conversion software you care to use.

[nwithyman]

I think that I'm glad that I found this forum as I was on the point of ordering the SanDisk Sansa Fuze+ 8GB but I have now read so many adverse reports that the weight of wisdom against doing so has left me with a dilemma!

Do I plough on regardless and make my purchase, or go back to square one and start looking all over again? Maybe I have an advantage in that I have never owned or used an MP3 player apart from listening to a few tracks and the radio on my Samsung Galaxy 2 phone (lovely bit of kit!) so I have no preconceived notions about what I should be looking for. Very slow reaction time does worry me a bit as does the apparent leaping about of menus etc to unwanted places.

There are obviously a lot of people out there with massively more experience and knowledge about these matters than I so might I ask them for some pointers toward an MP3/4 player that will not keep me up all night crying?

My particular interest is in something upon which I can download audio books and importantly be able to bookmark or return to the point where I had left off reading on the precious occasion. Music comes second and a radio in close third place esp if it can be recorded directly; pictures and video are not particularly important - my phone is quite adequate for them.

I suppose that I should have put as my first criterion 'the cost'. Finances are very tight at the moment so my budget would be up to £50, I have looked at a 'Kubik Evo' which looks ok but reading the reports on that again reveals polarised views.

So, if there are any learned people out there who can help this impoverished and financially challenged silver surfer - I'd love to have the benefit of your advice. Thank you in anticipation!

[NicholasV]

nwithyman, I returned my Fuze and now have a Sansa Clip Zip. The Fuze is a plain design failure.

The default Firmware of the Sansa Clip Zip is good for listening to audiobooks, it has a separate audiobooks folder and remembers where you left off. If you listen to music, or the radio you can come back to where you left off. But if you put Rockbox firmware on it is even better as it has a much better bookmarking system, you can have multiple bookmarks. The only downside is it cannot play video, but it is very cheap and compact in size.

[nwithyman]

Thank you very much for that Nicholas V! Your comments are much appreciated and finally convinces me that life is too short to get stressed out with a piece of kit so badly reviewed and oft returned as has happened with your goodself!

I had pretty well returned to my starting point and looked at the specs of the 'Zip' - it seems to be both well liked and within my budget; your reference to 'Rockbox' is also very interesting but did I read somewhere that it is still under development with a number of glitches still to be ironed out?